Chapter 820 The Tempering Begins
In terms of background, this peerlessly beautiful young woman wasn’t the slightest bit inferior to Wen Tianxiao, and she was a genius young woman that was like a scorching sun in the midday sky within the Spirit Pond World, and her origins were extremely great.
Comparatively speaking, within this group of three, Chen Xi’s identity seemed to be inferior to these two. But when they heard that he was from the Dark Reverie, it instantly aroused their surprised.
The Dark Reverie was a vast continent that was the closest to the Immortal Dimension amongst the 3,000 worlds, and it had given birth to countless great figures that shook the three dimensions and created infinite amounts of legends.
Moreover, the Dark Reverie was infinitely far from the Talisman Dimension. Not to mention a Heavenly Immortal, even an existence above the Heavenly Immortal Realm would find it extremely difficult to traverse the boundless universe to arrive at the Talisman Dimension.
Yet Chen Xi had actually arrived at the Talisman Dimension from the Dark Reverie, so how could they not be shocked?
Om!
A wave of droning sounded out, and then the scene before their eyes flashed. In the next instant, they’d already vanished within the teleportation formation of Leaping Tiger City.
...
“Golden Mulberry Village is at the southern border of Talisman Dimension, and its terrain is dangerous. There are over 3,000 locals in the village, and numerous Cosmos Beasts move about in the surroundings of the village. The strength of these Cosmos Beasts is roughly around the Nether Transformation Realm, but the existence of a variant beast equivalent to the Earthly Immortal Realm can’t be excluded.” Within the teleportation formation, Teng Lan spoke clearly as he introduced everything about Golden Mulberry Village to Chen Xi. He was a representative of the Ninth Rank Hall, and he was sent over by Mo Jiang with the duty of bringing Chen Xi and the others to Golden Mulberry Village.
“Remember, the Talisman Dimension is unlike any other world. The greatest taboo is killing the locals. Once such an incident occurs, then the Heaven Dao will strip you of your energy of virtue, and you’ll suffer punishment. Some with severe offences will even be killed on the spot.”
“With the strengths Fellow Daoists possess, it will at most take three years before you’ll surely be able to obtain sufficient Virtue Energy to leave Golden Mulberry Village and arrive at the nearest city, Crimson Swallow City!”
...
When Teng Lan finished introducing the basic situation of Golden Mulberry Village, everyone felt the scene before their eyes flash, and they’d already appeared within a village.
Everywhere that met the eye was ancient and golden mulberry trees. Beneath the cover of the tree leaves were numerous residences, whereas there was a lofty tower that loomed into the sky standing at the center of the village, and it was extremely striking.
This entire tower seemed to be made of bronze, and it bathed in a metallic sheen under the rays of sunlight. Moreover, it faintly emanated a grand, majestic, and extremely condensed fluctuation that enveloped the entire village.
This was the Talisman Tower, an existence similar to a defensive grand formation, and all the villages, cities, and counties in the Talisman Dimension were protected by a Talisman Tower.
“Hmph! Another group has come to give their lives away!” At the entrance to the village was an old man with a gaunt face. He seemed to have been waiting here since a long time ago, and he couldn’t help but grunt coldly when he saw Teng Lan appearing with Chen Xi’s group of three.
“Motherfucker! Watch your mouth old fellow?” Wen Tianxiao was furious, and he pointed at the old man as he cursed.
“Am I wrong? There have been 37 batches of cultivators sent over successively, yet now, they still haven’t dealt with the calamity of my Golden Mulberry Village, and they were either killed by Cosmos Beasts or fled with their tails between their legs. They were all trash, all of them were useless!”
The old man sneered, and he completely disregarded Wen Tianxiao’s threats.
Wen Tianxiao glared and was about to flare up when he recalled the Teng Lan had once instructed that the locals here couldn’t be killed, otherwise he would suffer the punishment of the Heaven Dao.
This caused him to be unable to help but feel depressed. Since when have ordinary people become so formidable?
“Fellow Daoists, this is the Elder of Golden Mulberry Village, Xue Ming. If all of you lack spirit liquid and immortal stones during the period of your training, you can exchange for some from him using the Virtue Energy in your possessions.” Teng Lan introduced. “Besides that, all of you can discuss any questions with Elder Xue Ming.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Teng Lan cupped his hands to Chen Xi and the others before he said with a smile, “I hope all of you will be triumphant!”
...
“Let’s go, respectable Lord Cultivators.” After Teng Lan left, Elder Xue Ming shouted out sarcastically, and then he turned around and walked towards the village.
“If this was the outside world, then I would have fucking cut of this old goat’s tongue!” Wen Tianxiao grunted coldly.
“Why didn’t you say you would kill him?” Yao Luwei glanced at him.
“Nonsense! Do I look like the sort of person that kills the innocent indiscriminately? Since he cursed me, I’ll cut his tongue, and if he dares to make a move against me, then I’ll naturally kill him. This is the style this Young Master conducts himself with. I’m upright and aboveboard, and I place great emphasis on proper rewards and penalties.” Wen Xiaofei couldn’t help but become complacent as he spoke.
“Let’s get to know the situation before taking action.” Chen Xi pondered briefly before following up to Elder Xue Ming after he said this.
He was able to sense that the heart of this Elder Xue Ming seemed to be filled with a great deal of resentment, and based on what Elder Xue Ming said, most of the cultivators that arrived at Golden Mulberry Village had actually suffered a calamity!
All of this caused him to not dare underestimate this village before him.
“That’s the Talisman Tower, and it suffers the assault of Cosmos Beasts every single night. The internal structure of it is already extremely damaged, and if nothing unexpected occurs, then it will be completely destroyed a month from now.” Elder Xue Ying stopped at the center of the village and pointed at the lofty Talisman Tower that towered into the sky, and he said with a hoarse voice that carried a trace of sorrow, “If the Talisman Tower is destroyed, then the entire Golden Mulberry Village will be obliterated along with it and be reduced to a place where Cosmos Beasts rampage about. So even though I really don’t look favorably upon all of you, I hope that you can help the Golden Mulberry Village and help these innocent villagers.”
Chen Xi was stunned, and his gaze swept out and noticed that numerous people had suddenly appeared in the surroundings of the Talisman Tower. There were old and young people amongst them, and every single one of them had heavy expressions that were filled with worry.
They were the villagers of Golden Mulberry Village, and they were called locals. They were already living here when the Talisman Dimension was created.
“Elder Xue Ming, can you explain the situation of the village?” asked Chen Xi.
“It’s a long story to tell, come with me.” Xue Ming sighed and led Chen Xi’s group to pass by the side of the Talisman Tower before entering an old and beat-up courtyard.
The rays of the setting sun were like blood, and it dyed all the golden mulberry trees in the surroundings of the village red, and it was suffused with a tragic aura of passing.
“The Golden Mulberry Village originally possessed 4,600 villagers, but during the recent period of time, due to the rapid decrease of the Talisman Tower’s strength, there are people dying almost every single day...” Elder Xue Ming’s hoarse voice reverberated within the room that was dimly lit by candlelight, and it carried a trace of a complicated feeling of agony, frustration, despair, and fury.
According to his introduction, Chen Xi and the others instantly understood everything.
It turned out that the existence of the Talisman Tower was similar to a city wall, and it resisted the invasion of the Cosmos Beasts from outside the village. So the condition of the Talisman Tower was directly related to the safety of the villagers in the village.
During this period of time, the Cosmos Beasts outside Golden Mulberry Village grew more numerous as the days went by, and they grew to a shocking amount. They attacked the village every single night, and due to the strength of the Talisman Tower being rapidly exhausted, it caused many villagers to be unfortunately affected and die miserably within the mouths of these Cosmos Beasts.
On the other hand, the cultivator sent over by the Ninth Rank Hall were useless. They had either fallen while fighting Cosmos Beasts or directly fled.
But according to what Elder Xue Ming said, it was impossible for these people who’d fled to escape the fate of death. Because the heavens and the earth within the Talisman Dimension were utterly devoid of a trace of spirit energy. Moreover, they would suffer the attacks of Cosmos Beasts upon leaving the village, and even if they fled to a nearby city, they would be utterly incapable of entering.
The reason was similarly simple. It was because they hadn’t earned enough Virtue Energy!
Just think about, if a cultivator suffered the pursuit of boundless Cosmos Beasts while lacking any spirit energy to replenish their strength, then how could they be fortunate enough to survive?
Finding out about all this allowed Chen Xi to gradually become aware of some basic survival rules in the Talisman Dimension.
The Talisman Dimension was boundless vast, yet extremely orderly. From the outer area until the center, there were villages, cities, counties, and the Imperial City of Four Emperors at the center.
There was vast amounts of mountains and rivers that were rarely habited between the villages and cities, cities and counties, and counties and the imperial city, and these areas in between were like a desolate land that hadn’t been cultivated and were called the ‘Desolate Restricted Area.’
Such a restricted area was the place where Cosmos Beasts came and went!
In other words, only villages, cities, counties, and the imperial city was the safest within the Talisman Dimension.
Because these places where people resided in were protected by Talisman Towers. But the energy of Talisman Towers would be consumed at all times while resisting the Cosmos Beasts.
Once the Talisman Towers were destroyed, it would mean that a village or a city would suffer a lethal threat, and it would most probably be annihilated because of this.
On the other hand, the method to repair the Talisman Tower was very simple. It only required sufficient Talisman Formation Masters to repair it.
So that’s how it is. It’s precisely because such a situation exists in the Talisman Dimension that it has instead become a superb location to train for cultivators. Not only would cultivators be able to obtain Virtue Energy from slaughtering Cosmos Beasts, they would even be able to temper their cultivation and combat technique. Similarly, repairing Talisman Towers would allow one to gain Virtue Energy while possibly providing great benefit to one’s cultivation in the Dao of Talismans... Chen Xi seemed to be lost in thought. His sole objective for coming to the Talisman Dimension this time was to deal with the problem of his advancement into the Earthly Immortal Realm, and if he wanted to achieve his wish, he had to arrive at the imperial city first and ascend the Grand Deduction Tower.
All of this didn’t have any conflict with his training in Golden Mulberry Village.
Because only by tempering himself would he be able to earn sufficient Virtue Energy to enter a city, county, and then imperial city step by step.
In this way, he could help the Golden Mulberry Village out of their predicament, and it could be said to be killing two birds with one stone.
Roar! Roar!
Suddenly, a wave of roars that shook the sky resounded out from afar, and then the entire world started to shake. It seemed as if a powerful army was charging towards Golden Mulberry Village from all over.
The expression of Elder Xue Ming turned grim as he cried out involuntarily. “These damnable vile creatures have come once again!”
“Bring it on! I can’t fucking wait!” Wen Tianxiao cried out loudly as he stood up and walked out with large strides.
At practically the exact same moment, Chen Xi and Yao Luwei made a move in unison. Both of them wanted to see with their own eyes exactly what was the strength and scale of the Cosmos Beasts outside Golden Mulberry Village
Elder Xue Ming couldn’t help but be stunned when he saw this, and for the first time, he felt that these three cultivators that had come to help the Golden Mulberry Village this time seemed to be different from those that had come before them...